Mumbai gets 2016's first cadaver donor
Mumbai witnessed first cadaver donation of 2016 after a 21-year-old brain dead patient's family agreed to donate his organs at Nanavati hospital on Monday (11 jan).
According to the Zonal Transplant Coordination Committee (ZTCC), the family's decision has given a new lease of life to three Mumbaikars — two end stage kidney patients and one end-stage liver patient.
The donor, who fell from an express train that was coming to Mumbai from Vapi, was admitted with severe head injuries at Nanavati hospital on January 6. The hospital tried to revive him but he was declared brain dead on Monday and the family was approached for organ donation. While the kidneys went to end stage kidney patients at Nanavati and Lilavati hospitals each, the liver went to an end-stage liver patient at Global Hospital.
After witnessing a rough patch in last few years, Mumbai made a history with 100% rise in cadaver donation in 2014 with a total of 41 donations. However, in 2015, the city saw only 42 cadaver donations, which was way below the ZTCC's expectations.
As transplant is the only cure for patients with organ failure, health experts feel that public hospitals should also start contributing in recognising brain deaths and converting them as organ donors.
Dr Sujata Patwardhan, general secretary, ZTCC said: "We are hopping that we will do much better than 2015. We are analysing the lacunae in the cadaver donations last year and looking into scope of improvement." She added that last year, the public hospitals had picked up on notifying brain deads.
"Notifications of brain dead patients have increased in public hospitals which is a good sign. We had as many as 57 brain dead notifications but only three cadaver donations happened," said Patwardhan. She further said that in most of the cases, the cadaver donor was not suitable for organ transplant.
The state health ministry too is planning workshops and training sessions to improve cadaver donations at public hospitals. The trend of cadaver donations has always been uneven in the city.
In 2012, there were 27 cadaver donations, while in 2013 there were 24 donations. In 2014, the city saw 41 cadaver donations that benefited 107 people.
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